I had to make a commitment to my wife that if I was going to spend her money on a cabin, it had to be NICE, nice enough for her to enjoy, no mice, nice flooring and furniture, etc.
Been working on this for a while now. Hope to finish interior over the winter. I have 7700 watts of solar panels, Sol-Ark 12k hybrid inverter and over 20kwh of lifepo 4 batteries that will get installed this spring along with front and rear decks. It is not as fancy as others but it is mine and paid for.
I do have power up there, but it's set up to run off a generator also. Eventually solar will be added. The shower shack is getting an on demand water heater and big ass 250 gallon rain water collection tank too.
I took a tour of another carpenter’s workshop in Wyoming at about 7,000’ in elevation. He had a super insulated shell, with windows designed for passive solar, and a lot of thermal mass in the floor. At the coldest part of the winter without any heat, the shop won’t go below 40 degrees when it’s 0 degrees outside. His only heat is a tiny wood stove, and the huge amount of insulation retains heat really well. Solar panels make living off the grid much easier than the old days.
Yes and enjoyed, enjoy the experience. Seems to never end. My beautiful wife n me staked 20 acres of remote recreational cabin land. At the base of Mt Denali. Accessible with snogos in the winter. In the non frozen months we charter a 185 on floats out of Talkeetna. Land on unmanned lake and walk 2 miles north. 16x24 with 10' tall walls. 3 sided logs.
I just got an air conditioner installed in the insulated generator shed so I can use it as a walk in cooler. I have 3 wheelers out there for freight and skidding logs for fire wood. And moose. I use a coleman canoe for a freight sled in the summer. I have a sand point well started in the kitchen cabinets and hopefully will get it finished up this winter. Then we will have potable water inside the cabin. Just use the kitchen faucet.
This cabin is a labor of love. And remembering the northern lights dancing above while freighting is supplies. Stopping in an open area, breathing in the cold air. Nice warm shot of whiskey n off we go.
We wanted a log cabin because it looks great. And more bear proof. Used cedar utility poles for the foundation. I have 200 TnG pine boards to finish off the cieling upstairs. Hopefully they will get installed too.
I've spent months at a time out there. Great memories. Calling in a huge bodied 58" non typical moose for our son's first moose. One evening I got back to the cabin and my beautiful wife had a nice warm meal ready. After supper we went upstairs to go to bed. She asks, what's that sound. I opened up the door and heard the noise. The local wolf pack was taking down a moose just out in front of the cabin. Or listening to a couple lynx fighting. The northern pike are now in the little pond out front. So good, we will now have fresh fish.
This last fall, I kinda out of the blue. Asked Jordan Jonnas from the TV show alone if he would like to come up n go moose hunting. He is the hardest hunting person I've ever met. He got a shot at a mid fiddy bull but his scope was knocked off and he missed. But he had a great opportunity and had a great time hanging out. I made fresh chaga bread daily and really enjoyed hanging out around the campfire with him.
Having this cabin and 20 acres inside a kazillion acres of public land is very special. And allows me the freedom to continue to enjoy hunting and just hanging out with no issues